Piedmont and WellStar Partner to Form Georgia Health Collaborative

Piedmont Healthcare and WellStar Health System have announced a partnership to create the Georgia Health Collaborative, a first of its kind in the state. The new Collaborative will establish services and initiatives focusing on the development of innovative healthcare delivery models, economically aligned physician relationships and the creation of service line cost savings.

The formation of the Collaborative allows Piedmont and WellStar to share intellectual knowledge concerning clinical care and seek cost reductions through economies of scale.

The two not-for-profit health systems will remain independent but, through the Collaborative, serve a primary service area population of more than three million across north Georgia. With a combined 2,393 hospital beds, 10 hospitals, seven urgent care centers and more than 700 physicians in the Piedmont Physicians Group, Piedmont Heart Institute, and the WellStar Medical Group, the Collaborative will redefine the delivery of healthcare services in metro-Atlanta.

Piedmont and WellStar are well positioned in the Atlanta healthcare market to work together to achieve improved clinical results and reduction in costs as dictated in the 2010 federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Health systems that have a broader geographic reach and larger population base will be best suited to react to and sustain operations regardless of future federal and state legislative outcomes.

The Collaborative may add affiliate hospitals or health systems in the future. A Board of Directors for the Collaborative will be established and will include the system chairman of the Board, the CEO or COO of both health systems and two additional members from each system.